Recounting Memories of Resistance in 33 Days
In this article, I examine the only entirely fictional film made so far about Israel's July 2006 war on Lebanon: the Lebanese-Iranian film 33 Days (2012). I demonstrate how this cinematic intervention, centered on the real-life Battle of Aita al-Shaab, provides a counter-hegemonic narrative t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Pluto Journals
2016-03-01
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| Series: | Arab Studies Quarterly |
| Online Access: | https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/arabstudquar.38.2.0481 |
| _version_ | 1797687313119051776 |
|---|---|
| author | Syrine Hout |
| author_facet | Syrine Hout |
| author_sort | Syrine Hout |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this article, I examine the only entirely fictional film made so far about Israel's July 2006 war on Lebanon: the Lebanese-Iranian film 33 Days (2012). I demonstrate how this cinematic intervention, centered on the real-life Battle of Aita al-Shaab, provides a counter-hegemonic narrative to the mostly Western and largely orientalist views not only of this war but of the history of conflict between two opposed political imaginaries: the Israeli on the one hand and the discourse of resistance on the other. I argue that the film's featuring a web of different types of intersecting memories—personal and collective, traumatic and inherited (post-memories)—of both Lebanese and Israeli characters is instrumental for (re)defining resistance as an ongoing project with both a historical trajectory and an eye to the future of Arab-Israeli armed conflict. While memories are used to recount parts of the (hi)story of combat against Israeli offensives, they also force Israeli commanders to recount, i.e., to recalculate, their own tactics and strategies as they encounter an unwavering and surprising opponent. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:16:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-33b720fec9084e4b9ec3ca4b39f52c26 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0271-3519 2043-6920 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:16:26Z |
| publishDate | 2016-03-01 |
| publisher | Pluto Journals |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Arab Studies Quarterly |
| spelling | doaj.art-33b720fec9084e4b9ec3ca4b39f52c262023-09-13T10:27:06ZengPluto JournalsArab Studies Quarterly0271-35192043-69202016-03-0138248149910.13169/arabstudquar.38.2.0481Recounting Memories of Resistance in 33 DaysSyrine HoutIn this article, I examine the only entirely fictional film made so far about Israel's July 2006 war on Lebanon: the Lebanese-Iranian film 33 Days (2012). I demonstrate how this cinematic intervention, centered on the real-life Battle of Aita al-Shaab, provides a counter-hegemonic narrative to the mostly Western and largely orientalist views not only of this war but of the history of conflict between two opposed political imaginaries: the Israeli on the one hand and the discourse of resistance on the other. I argue that the film's featuring a web of different types of intersecting memories—personal and collective, traumatic and inherited (post-memories)—of both Lebanese and Israeli characters is instrumental for (re)defining resistance as an ongoing project with both a historical trajectory and an eye to the future of Arab-Israeli armed conflict. While memories are used to recount parts of the (hi)story of combat against Israeli offensives, they also force Israeli commanders to recount, i.e., to recalculate, their own tactics and strategies as they encounter an unwavering and surprising opponent.https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/arabstudquar.38.2.0481 |
| spellingShingle | Syrine Hout Recounting Memories of Resistance in 33 Days Arab Studies Quarterly |
| title | Recounting Memories of Resistance in 33 Days |
| title_full | Recounting Memories of Resistance in 33 Days |
| title_fullStr | Recounting Memories of Resistance in 33 Days |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recounting Memories of Resistance in 33 Days |
| title_short | Recounting Memories of Resistance in 33 Days |
| title_sort | recounting memories of resistance in 33 days |
| url | https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/arabstudquar.38.2.0481 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT syrinehout recountingmemoriesofresistancein33days |